The Time Theives
by FredGirl
Summary: Jack and the 10th Doctor are stuck in the Tardis, waiting for the end of the world. Technically AU. Sort of. Mild 10th Doctor/Jack. Oneshot.


**A/N:** This is a really, really bad oneshot. And when I say really, really bad, I mean dead awful. I'm only publishing this because I want to publish at least one DW fanfic, and so as soon as I write a better one, this one it going to be taken down.

**It's probably a good idea to read the following, or this won't make sense.**__As I said in the description, this is more or less AU. It doesn't fit with the DW timeline or any events that happened, so there are no spoilers or anything really. Just pretend this all happens in a little alternate reality where there's a Doctor and a Jack and a Rose and… You get the picture.

It wasn't just dark. There was no light in the small, forgotten room of the TARDIS.

"Doctor?" Jack whispered. There was no reply, just the sound of ragged breathing. "Doctor… I suppose asking if you were all right would be stupid, wouldn't it? I mean, you of all people, today of all days…" he trailed off. "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry…" He reached out into the black and found a bony shoulder. Still, there was no answer.

Jack tried not to think about what had happened. That was his usual strategy when it came to horrific events beyond human imagination, after all. Not that it worked. The scene of Rose's death played over and over and over in his mind. The Doctor's face as she fell to the ground, eyes full of pain. And then he seemed to break apart. Jack had barely managed to restrain him, to stop him from forcing himself to regenerate repeatedly until he died for good.

The two of them were than thrown into this cell, and were now sitting on the floor, waiting for the universe to end. Darkly, Jack wondered if he'd survive that. He really hoped he wouldn't. An eternity of dying repeatedly, alone in nothingness didn't seem especially appealing. Then he realised that it didn't matter. He'd be dying so rapidly that he wouldn't notice a thing.

"Doctor, just say something. Please." He was desperate now, worried. The silence went on. "Doctor, if you don't say something, I'm going to have to… do something you won't like."

"And what would that be?" the Doctor rasped. "What could I not like more than myself, anyway?"

"Okay, that's it." Jack had had enough. He found the Doctor's face, cupping in his cheeks.

The Doctor tried to push him away. "Jack, don't. This isn't the ti—" He was cut short by a fist being smashed into his stomach.

"Get a grip, Doctor. People are dying out there, and you are probably the only thing in existence that can save them! Stop feeling so damn sorry for yourself, get us out of here and save the bloody universe!"

There was a tense silence for a few seconds, and then the Doctor mumbled, "How? What am I supposed to do, Jack? There's no way out of here, I don't even have the sonic. By now it will be too late—"

Jack hit him again, this time in the face. He was thrown across the room and into a wall. "Don't say that! It's never too late!" By now, the captain was nearly hysterical. He had just watched almost all the people he cared about die, and now the only one of them that was left was giving up. "You are the Doctor! You never give up!"

"That was before I killed her."

Another silence. Jack dug his nails into the palms of his hands until he felt blood seep out. He was so mad that he was shaking. He wanted to rip something into pieces. He was so mad, so scared, so tired and so sad that he did the worst, most embarrassing thing he could have possibly done. Something he hadn't done for a long time.

He burst into tears. This, if nothing else, seemed to drag the Doctor out of his self-pity. "Jack? I'm sorry…" Awkwardly, he crawled over to where Jack still sat on the floor and gave him a hug.

"Oh really?" Jack retorted, trying to wipe away the tears streaming out of his eyes. "You're sorry, are you? Great. Well, that's helpful, isn't it?"

"I'm just trying to help!" The Doctor released Jack and moved away slightly.

"Help? I'm not one of your companions, Doctor. I'm not Rose. A hug isn't going to just make everything better. Do you think a hug is going to bring her back? To bring Martha back? Gwen? Ianto?" His voice broke as he said the last name.

"What do you expect me to do? I can't… I'm doing the best I can, okay?" The Doctor was shaking, Jack could hear it.

"We've both made mistakes today. We've both killed people we love. Now we need to move on. Okay?" He felt his own hands trembling as he spoke. He let out a choked sob and tried angrily to yet again brush the tears off his face.

Now the Doctor was crying. "I didn't mean to Jack. It was an accident… I didn't mean to kill her. I never got to say 'Rose Tyler, I—" This time, it wasn't Jack punching him that cut him off. It was a massive explosion that shook the whole TARDIS. The floor tilted, causing he and Jack to be flung into the wall with a thud.

"What the hell was that?" Jack muttered through his tears.

The Doctor didn't answer. He was too busy laughing, if you could call the strange choking noises he was making laughter.

"Doctor!" Jack reached out for him and found his hair, which was matted with something wet and sticky. Blood. He pulled the Timelord closer into his lap, and was sickeningly reminded of Ianto's death.

"I guess I'll never get to say it, not even after she's dead. Not ever." The Doctor leaned into Jack.

Jack ran his hands through the Doctor's hair. "Doctor, you're bleeding…"

"Am I? Oh, I am, well look at that! Whoops." He was smiling, not that Jack could see. He sat up and turned to face Jack. "It's only a cut, don't worry."

Jack blinked slowly, disorientated by his sudden change of mood. He became even more disorientated, quite understandably, when the Timelord's lips pressed against his.

Jack had kissed a fair few people in his life. Once, he had tried to work out just how many, but gave up when he got to 353. It was just too sad, to remember all of the friends, the lovers, the family that he had lost. But this kiss was different to all of them, because it was the least expected. Never, in the thousands of years he had been alive, had he expected that this man would kiss him.

Jack pulled him closer and closer, which the Doctor didn't seem to object to. The Doctor didn't seem to object to anything. Jack let his mind go blissfully blank.

After what seemed like a short eternity, they stopped and just sat there, arms wrapped around each other, waiting for the universe to end.

Some people are time thieves.

Stealing seconds.

Minutes.

Hours from time.

They don't know what they are.

They don't realise what they're doing.

Stolen moments in the dark

Taken from time's grasp.

FF_2122438_1029879011 Mark Stephens Page 3 of 3


End file.
